Alright everybody! Hope you're all ready for more Teen Titan-ic awesomeness, because here's a new chapter! And this one's a pretty long one to! And it's only been about 4 or 5 days since the last two chapters I posted, so I'm somewhat still on a roll! And in this newly uploaded chapter, while Beast Boy is now in an incredibly strong state of emotional health, he now still can't get quite his mysterious mental turmoil over Raven out of his head, and the Beast and all the other animals inside there are most certainly not all that keen on making this task any easier. And all this, combined with some interesting matters brought up by multiple fellow Titans among the guests to arrive this day, soon lead Beast Boy to really having to think hard on an interesting matter; just how does he really feel in regard to our favorite Azarathian teen sorceress? And that being said, here's to hoping you read, review, and enjoy!
A/N: Once again, I do not own Teen Titans, or anything else DC-based. Believe me, if I owned DC, I'd be taking the DC extended universe in a much different direction, and it would be much closer to being on par with Marvel. And on a similar note, anything else copyrighted and owned by a higher legal power that I mention or make references to in this chapter are likewise not mine.
Chapter 6:
It's Just a Crush
The very next morning, Beast Boy couldn't help but close his eyes and shake his head in annoyance. Even now, at the beginning of an entire new day, he still couldn't get that one annoying little matter off of his mind. He opened his eyes and glared down at his currently half eaten serving of tofu waffles. "Good grief," he thought to himself. "What is it about Raven that's gotten my mind all yammering and in a kerfuffle like this? I certainly don't know."
"Yes you do."
Beast Boy narrowed his eyes. "Again with this?" he mentally responded.
"Don't play dumb," the Beast responded back from deep within it's host's subconscious. "You know I'm right. And you are perfectly well aware of why your mind is in the state it's currently in over your friend the sorceress. You just don't want to admit it."
Beast Boy mentally snarled, and resumed his work on eating his breakfast. "Well whatever it is, it can wait till after breakfast. I'm not continuing this craziness on an empty stomach, if at all."
"Oh you will accept the facts," said the Beast. "But indeed, not before you finish eating. You'll need your strength for the trials to come." The Beast retreated back into the deeper areas of the changeling's subconscious, and the shape shifter sighed. For the next few minutes, he continued his work on eating what remained of his breakfast. When he was finally finished, he shoved his plate forward, stretched his hands into the air with intertwined fingers, and turned his head to look towards the sofa, where all the other founding Titans were still gathered around, having managed to finish their own breakfasts a good couple minutes earlier than Beast Boy due to his little mental turmoil keeping him distracted at alternating intervals over the course of the meal.
"Cheeky weasel," he thought to himself. "What makes him think I'm lying? I don't have any idea what's happening." Then he looked at Raven, and he unconsciously felt a small smile coming on his face. "Ok," he mentally amended. "I do have an idea. But that's just it, an idea. That's all." And indeed he did have an idea as to what could potentially be the reason behind his current state of mind where Raven was involved. The idea he currently had that he personally felt made the most sense, and all the animals in his mind seemed quite keen on insisting was correct, was that he felt something for Raven that put her in his mind a good step above friendship.
"But that can't possibly be right," Beast Boy thought to himself almost instinctively. "How would they possibly know what love is? I certainly don't know what that kind of love is, and what I don't know, they shouldn't know either. They're all a part of me mentally speaking, so that's exactly how it should work."
He turned his head away from his fellow founders, trying as hard as he could to get his mind on other things, and his eyes narrowed at the sight of both his dirty plate and the dishes from the other founders' breakfasts that were currently piled up and unattended in the sink. "And for God's sake," he thought to himself. "It's not my turn for dish duty this week, it's Robin's darn it!"
He turned his head towards Robin, about to call the Boy Wonder's attention to this matter, only to inadvertently also catch sight of Raven still sitting on the floor to the right of the couch area where Robin was positioned, reading a book with her hood up, and he mentally screeched in annoyance as he once again heard the animals in his mind chuckling and felt the rising sense of happiness and peace that arose in his mind at the sight of her. "I do not feel that way about her!" he mentally growled. "No sir! Not at all!"
He closed his eyes, his mouth contorting into a grimacing frown as he continued to try to wrestle the offending notions of silliness into submission. "I do not feel that way! And even if I was feeling that kind of way for anyone, I couldn't possibly feel that way for Raven of all people! The idea alone is an impossibility!"
The changeling shook his head side to side, and then opened his eyes and looked back in the direction of his four fellow founders once more, a now quite annoyed look on his face. "And even if I truly could feel that way at all towards Raven, let alone actually do, it couldn't possibly be actual love. It's just a crush. Yeah that's it. Just a crush."
"Hmm, those last few comments sound an awful lot like you're no longer in denial."
"Stay out of this!" Beast Boy mentally growled back in response. Annoyingly enough, the Beast only chuckled, and seemingly vanished into thin air from his mind yet again.
He growled silently to himself, and turned his head away from his fellow founders once more. But as luck would have it, this time not even his no longer having Raven directly in his eyesight was enough to allow him to shake his mind off of thinking about the whole business. "I do not have feelings like that for anyone. And I certainly don't have any for Raven. Ipso facto, case-o closed-o."
Beast Boy finally managed to get his mind decisively off of his current little dilemma when he heard Cyborg say, "Hey BB! You finished yet?"
Beast Boy turned his head to face Cyborg. "Yes!"
"Well that's good!" Cyborg gave the shape shifter a thumbs up, smiling happily in the process. "Wouldn't want you still busy eating when our guests arrive within the next half hour!"
At the sound of this, Beast boy found a wide smile coming on his face. Now that Cyborg had mentioned it, he remembered quite clearly now that all the members of the extension divisions of the team were supposed to arrive that very morning. "Oh don't you worry," said Beast Boy. "I'll definitely be ready for when our guests get here."
"Join the club Beast Boy," said Robin, a smile of his own on his face. "Join the club."
Cyborg chuckled. "You know, with all that in mind, I do believe that perhaps it might be a good idea to get the dishes from this morning taken care of real soon so that we don't have a messy sight like that greeting our friends when they arrive." Upon saying this, he directed a meaningful look towards Beast Boy.
Beast Boy, however, was not about to rise to the bait. And he most certainly wasn't going to let his team mates shrug their responsibilities onto his shoulders and leave him to grumble around while they had all the time for fun they wanted. "I certainly agree," said the changeling. "That would be a fantastic idea." He turned his head and directed a half smirk and half glare towards the back of Robin's head. "Robin."
At the sound of his name, and the very meaningful tone that Beast Boy had said it with, Robin turned his head with a half surprised and half confused look on his face. Beast Boy wordlessly responded by picking up his place, lifting it up so that Robin could get a guaranteed clear view of it, and then threw it into the sink with the other dishes. He pointed at the sink. "Now's as good a time as any."
Robin's eyes narrowed. "Seriously Beast Boy?" Robin asked. "We've talked about this."
"Yes we have," said Beast Boy. He pointed at the Boy Wonder. "And it's your turn this week to do dishes."
"Prove it," said Robin, simultaneously folding his arms across his chest in a quite petulant looking manner.
Beast Boy groaned, rolled his eyes, and then turned into an octopus before then extending a tentacle towards one of the kitchen cabinets, opening it, and taking down the kitchen calendar, which he then unceremoniously tossed onto Robin's lap.
Robin directed a cursory glance at the calendar, and then rolled his eyes. "Real helpful Beast Boy," he then said without even turning his head to face the changeling.
The changeling in question, who had just reverted back to his human form, reared his head up, groaned in irritation, and rolled his eyes. Then he assumed his octopus form once again, grabbed onto the calendar with one of his tentacles, and slapped Robin in the face with it before slamming it back down on the Boy Wonder's lap and reverting back to human form. "You have hands Robin!" Beast Boy yelled. "Pick it up yourself!"
For a brief moment, Robin found himself seemingly unable to speak or move, completely stunned at how Beast Boy had just now basically dope slapped him. Then he managed to look one by one at the other three Titans sitting in the same basic area. Starfire had a wide-eyed and close-mouthed look of shock on her face, clearly just as stunned as her boyfriend by the unexpected slap. Cyborg clearly looked as if he were fighting to keep himself from bursting out laughing. Raven, meanwhile, just raised her eyebrow as if she didn't see anything out of the ordinary.
Then Robin looked down at the calendar, and sighed. "I guess I walked into that one," he thought to himself as he picked up the calendar and lifted it up so that he could read it. He mentally groaned at the sight that greeted him. Just as Beast Boy had said, this week was indeed one in which it would be his turn at dishes duty. "Come on Beast Boy," Robin groaned, placing the calendar gently on the empty sofa cushion to his right. "It's Valentine's Day week."
"So it's a holiday week," said Beast Boy. "Never stopped you from doing your chores before."
"This year's different," said Robin.
"He has a point you know," said Cyborg. Robin turned his head to face his robotic second in command. "It is your turn this week. And besides," he gestured at himself and the other subordinate founders. "None of us are getting a break from doing our chores this week. I do believe that denies you the same luxury."
"I am very sorry to say this," said Starfire. "But friend Cyborg has a point."
"Not you to Star," Robin grumbled.
"You know Robin," said Raven. "I'm sure Beast Boy wouldn't mind if I were to set up a little bit of payback for him in the event that you force him to do dishes for you today." She lowered her book so that Robin could look directly at her hooded face. "And I do believe you remember what happened the last time you tried to shirk off one of your weekly chores and have us take your turn for you."
At the sound of this, Robin's heart sank, and he leaned his head back slightly with a somewhat unnerved expression on his face. He indeed did remember the incident Raven had now mentioned, and judging by the cheeky grin on Cyborg's face, the wince on Starfire's face, and quite smug look he currently had an instinctive feeling that Beast Boy was directing at him from behind, so did they.
Three years ago, about a week after they'd returned home from their experiences with Titans East and their final battle with Brother Blood, the Titans had ended up in a particularly messy and gross battle with Plasmus that had left all of them in very real need of doing laundry. It had been Robin's turn for laundry duty that particular week, and he'd decided that he really didn't want to deal with the almost supernaturally strong grossness of the slime that had gotten all over the clothes thanks to Jump City's infamous resident ooze monster, attempting to shirk off the responsibility to Raven. And he'd gone through quite a few lengths to get Raven to be left with virtually no other choice but to attempt to do the laundry herself. Unfortunately, Raven had taken only seconds to enact an epic payback against Robin. The payback in question had consisted of Raven using her powers to animate literally all of the Titans' clothes; apart from Raven's change of outfit that is; including the replacement outfits that Robin, Starfire, and Beast Boy had changed into after returning to the tower before placing their oozy outfits on the laundry pile, into coming alive, moving around on their own, and both hilariously dancing around and wreaking havoc all around the tower. As a result, not only had the Tower been left virtually flooded with dancing and walking and likewise moving clothes, but Starfire had been reduced to locking herself in her room and hiding under the covers of her bed, Beast Boy had transformed into the first animal he could think of at the time (which had by sheer bad luck on Robin's part, turned out to be a skunk) and refused to revert back to human form until he knew for certain that he could safely attempt to put his clothes back on without worrying about them fighting against him and running away, and Robin had been left awkwardly covering himself up in the kitchen with no defense against a laughing Cyborg, who had gotten way too much enjoyment out of the whole spectacle. At that point, Robin had promptly decided that he'd be better off doing the laundry himself like originally assigned, and had virtually begged mentally for Raven to undo the spell, which Raven had done after leaving the Boy Wonder to squirm and cringe for an entire hour. And to add insult to injury, as Robin later found out upon entering the laundry room immediately after the spell had been broken and he was safely clothed once more, Raven hadn't even tried to get started on cleaning the laundry before casting her spell.
And so, upon remembering the entire unpleasant ordeal with the laundry three years prior, and then starting to wonder about all manner of potential nightmarish ways that Raven could wreak havoc with a similar spell cast on the dirty dishes, Robin promptly got up from the sofa and headed dutifully over to the sink. "You know what forget it," said Robin as he reached the sink. He picked up a dish, turned on the water, and grabbed onto the dish soap container. "It is my turn to do dishes this week." And at that, the Boy Wonder got straight to work, his four fellow founding Titans watching in amusement at the mighty Robin doing dishes while simultaneously, and quite comically, whistling while he worked.
. . . . .
"Wasn't so bad now was it?" Beast Boy asked.
Robin groaned, and rolled his eyes. "Not now Beast Boy," he said. "I'd very much prefer that we be civil when our guests arrive."
Beast Boy chuckled, and turned his head to face the direction his fellow founders were currently looking. At the current moment, all five of them were gathered on the roof of the tower, watching the sky and waiting patiently for signs of arrival from any of the ancillary branches. At the current moment, assuming that everything went according to plan and they'd gotten their information right, the guests were supposed to start arriving quite soon. But for now, there was no sign of any of them just yet.
Then they heard what sounded like a faint bugling call of a trumpet, and they looked downwards upon catching sight of what appeared to be a flash of light from out of the corner of their eyes. And sure enough, a small portal just big enough to fit across a storm drain entrance appeared not too far in front of the small pathway where the laser line security defenses were located. A familiar figure stepped out from the portal, and the Titans smiled upon recognizing him. It was the Herald.
Cyborg lifted his hands and cupped them around his mouth. "Up here Herald!"
The cloaked figure lifted his head and looked up towards the roof of the Tower, his dark face becoming alight with a smile upon recognition of his five friends. He waved his gloved hand at them. "Greetings my friends!"
"Right back at you," Robin responded. He folded his arms across his chest, an amused smirk on his face. "Though I must admit, status as leader aside, I wasn't expecting you to beat your team mates here, let alone be the first to arrive."
The Herald chuckled. "Oh it won't be much longer now."
And sure enough, all of one second after Herald spoke, Beast Boy managed to hear what sounded like a faint gust of hyper fast wind, and soon gradually increased in volume to the point that his fellow founding Titans were able to hear it.
The Herald also heard this noise, and he smiled. "Yep, here they come now."
Sure enough, a familiar yellow blur rocketed onto the shore of the island before abruptly snapping to a stop directly to the Herald's right, revealing itself to be none other than Kid Flash. And of course, much to Starfire's delight, Jinx was present with him, and in fact right now had her arms around Kid Flash's neck and appeared to have been carried all the way from Keystone City to Jump City in her boyfriend's arms bridal style. Just like that, the entirety of the current roster of Titans Central had arrived.
Kid Flash briefly directed a small glare at Herald. "Seriously?" he stated. "Again? How do you keep arriving before me?"
"Sorry pal," said Herald. "But you're not as fast as your uncle just yet." He drew out his interdimensional portal summoning horn from his cloak as if to proudly show it off. "And your current max speed is still just a couple seconds slower than my portals."
Kid Flash stuck his tongue out at Herald in a juvenile manner, and then smiled at Jinx before gently setting her down on her feet. The pink haired probability manipulator chuckled, and patted her boyfriend lovingly on the shoulder with a playful role of her eyes, and then turned to face the tower alongside her boyfriend and team leader. She waved at her former enemies turned friends and team mates. "Hello everyone!" she called. Then she chuckled, placing her hands on her hips in the process. "Goodness, what are you doing all the way up there? Come down so we can greet each other properly why don't you?" She raised her hand playfully as if about to snap her fingers. "Or do I need to hex you down?" she then asked in a clearly joking manner.
"Tempting," said Cyborg. "But unnecessary."
"Indeed not," Herald agreed. He blew into his horn, summoning a portal right behind the founding Titans. They walked through the portal, popping out of the resulting supplementary portal that appeared in front of the Titans Central members.
Cyborg took the initiative first, and walked right up to Herald with his hand extended for a handshake. "Good to see you again buddy."
The cloaked boy chuckled, slipped his horn back into his cloak, and happily shook hands with his bionic peer. "Likewise pal."
Cyborg chuckled back, and shook his head side to side before directing his gaze back towards the East. "So," said Cyborg. "What do you think the chances are that Bee and the rest of Titans East will be the next to arrive?"
"Knowing Bee," the Herald responded while rubbing his hand across the back of his hooded head, "I wouldn't be surprised if she arrived within the next few minutes, and of course beat Titans North and South. Not at all." His smile widened. "We tend to have it in common to be among the first to arrive."
"Oh yes, that reminds me," said Cyborg. He directed a more serious look at Herald, folding his arms across his chest for good measure. "When were you and Bee going to tell me that you were dating?"
The Herald's eyes widened under his gray opera-styled mask, clearly having not expected Cyborg to be aware of this. "Later today," he managed to respond truthfully. "How did you know?"
Cyborg looked over at Beast Boy, who currently appeared to be discussing something with Robin and Kid Flash, thought to himself as if judging whether or not he was at a safe distance in light of Beast Boy's hearing, and then looked back at the Herald. In as low of a whisper as he could muster that would allow the Herald to hear him yet hopefully still also allow him to evade the changeling's hearing ability, the bionic teen responded, "I may have accidentally eavesdropped on Beast Boy yesterday when he broke the news to Raven. Apparently, he caught wind of the matter himself through his forays onto the team's personal social media account."
The Herald looked over at Beast Boy. "Ok then." He looked back at Cyborg, his eyebrow now raised. "And why, may I ask, was Beast Boy talking to Raven about my social life?"
A sheepish look came on Cyborg's face. "Uh . . . long story."
Herald gazed at Cyborg for a few seconds longer with his eyebrow still raised, and then shook his head side to side to clear his head. He could worry about getting the full story later.
Evidently Cyborg agreed, as the half robot placed his hand on the hooded boy's shoulder and said, "We'll discuss this matter further at a later date."
"Agreed."
At the same time this exchange was going on between the two African Americans, Robin and Beast Boy were having quite the happy chat with Kid Flash. "So," said Robin, a good natured smirk on his face directed at his fellow teen sidekick. "Still working on reaching your uncle's level huh?"
"Hey now," said Kid Flash, a mock annoyed look on his face and his finger pointed at the Boy Wonder. "I've never made fun of you over your first costume have I?"
"I don't see anything wrong," said Beast Boy. He pointed at his fearless leader. "I mean sure, it's a little flashy and traffic lighty, but that's not that big of a deal."
Kid Flash directed a mischievous grin towards the shape shifter. "You should have seen the costume he wore when he first started working alongside Batman."
Beast Boy raised his eyebrow. "What about it?"
"That's for the two of us to know," Robin interjected, raising his hand in front of Kid Flash's face to forestall any response from the teen speedster while directing his gaze at Beast Boy. "And you to find out at a later date." Immediately after saying this, the Boy Wonder directed a stern glare at Kid Flash that clearly meant 'this discussion is over'. Kid Flash only shook his head side to side, grin still on his face. Beast Boy momentarily continued to look confused, but eventually decided to drop the subject.
"Ok then," said Robin. He cleared his throat and let a small smile come back on his face directed towards Kid Flash. "So how are things going between you and Jinx?"
"Going well." The speedster chuckled, and rubbed his hand through his hair. "Honestly, I think I may have finally found just the right girl. In all the time I've spent with her, I've felt happier than I ever have with any other girl." He sighed in content. "Sure, I do have to be especially careful around her considering her powers and all. But nonetheless, yeah, she's definitely a keeper."
"I know the feeling," said Beast Boy, nodding his head up and down with a sympathetic look on his face, thinking of what it was like just living around Raven as a friend alone.
Kid Flash raised his eyebrow, his facial expression hinting that very clearly at what he was currently thinking about thanks to what Beast Boy had just said. "Oh really?"
Beast Boy felt his heart sink. "Hey now," he hurriedly said with his finger pointed at the super speedster. "Let's not go jumping to conclusions here dude. It's not what you're thinking; things between me and Raven are nothing like the way they are between you and Jinx."
"Who said they were?" Kid Flash cheekily.
Beast Boy mentally face palmed. "Good gravy," he thought to himself. "I'm just digging myself deeper now aren't I?"
Robin placed his hands on his friend's shoulders. "We can talk more about this later." He directed a sidelong glance at Kid Flash while saying this, and mouthed that he'd talk about it with Beast Boy later. Kid Flash surreptitiously winked at Robin to indicate that he understood.
"Well now that that's out of the way," Beast Boy stated, clearly relieved to now be able to change the subject. "What's life like for Jinx living and fighting crime alongside you guys in Keystone City these days? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was thinking she'd have a pretty tough time at first considering her history with the H.I.V.E."
"And you'd be correct," said Kid Flash. "In fact, so far, she only goes out in public in the form we all know and love when fighting crime or likewise on missions. But during times of peace, she never goes out in public without wearing that holo-ring Cyborg helped design for her." He stretched his arms skyward, sighing in content. "Sure it can be tough sometimes for her living like that, but she's always been able to reassure me that she's ok with it, and with time, I'm sure that she'll eventually be trusted enough to be able to reduce how often she has to hide her true self from the public eye."
"I certainly hope that's what will happen," Robin agreed. Beast Boy nodded silently, likewise in agreement.
"You know, strictly out of curiosity," said Beast Boy. "Just how does Jinx look when she's wearing the ring?"
Kid Flash drew out his communicator, accessed a photo, and showed it to his two peers. The picture in question was of an almost impossibly fair skinned girl about the same age as Kid Flash. The girl's hair was such a pale blonde that it looked almost white. Her eyes, in very obvious contrast, were an impossibly dark brown, almost black. "This is how she used to look before she got her powers," Kid Flash explained as if to confirm to his friends that the girl in the photo was indeed Jinx in her holo-ring disguise. He turned his communicator around to direct a look at the photo himself. "And now that I think about it, this disguise allowed her the ability attend Keystone High School with me. Granted, my aunt and uncle had to do quite a bit of work in getting the whole business set up considering how long Jinx's old civilian identity had been off the radar."
"Well I'm sure that will be a fantastic story to listen to later," said Robin. He was interested in learning the story, but right now he wasn't entirely certain that this was the best time. For starters, there were many other fellow Titans that were supposed to arrive to join in the party later that day. Secondly, he also believed that it would be best for Jinx to explicitly give permission for anyone else on the team apart from herself, Kid Flash, and presumably the Herald (being the leader of Titans Central) to be allowed to be in the loop in regard to her origins and civilian identity before he allowed it to be spread amongst the entire team. Kid Flash understood the reasoning behind Robin's current decision, and he nodded his head.
Meanwhile, the three girls were having an equally pleasant chat of their own. "So you and Robin finally got together last year huh?" said Jinx. She chuckled, and gave the Tamaranean an approving thumbs-up. "About time. Even when we were still enemies and fighting each other, it was so blaringly obvious how much you and the Traffic Light dug each other."
Starfire giggled in delight, rubbing her fingers through her long red hair. "Why thank you friend. Life has been the dream come true since we finally admitted to the feelings."
Jinx chuckled. "So I've heard." She turned her head towards Raven. "How about you Raven? Found your own lucky guy yet?"
Raven sighed. "Not yet."
"Pity," said Jinx, a look of sympathy on her face. "I was really hoping to have a chance at having proper cause to include you in the Valentine's Day girl talk we've all been planning on for this year."
"That may or may not be a blessing in and of itself," said Raven. "But nonetheless, in the unlikely event that I do find my own special person, I'll be sure to let you be aware of the news."
"Unlikely?" Jinx asked. She blew a 'yeah right' raspberry, and then said, "Please, don't sell yourself short."
Raven directed a slight glare at the pinkette. "I'm serious," said the teenage Azarathian. "Who'd possibly find a gray skinned sorceress with an unusual hair color, dark powers, and an even darker background attractive?"
"That's easy," said Jinx. She pointed off to her right. "Look over there."
Raven and Starfire turned their heads, and Raven mentally dope slapped herself upon catching sight of Kid Flash. "Of course," she thought to herself. Aside from the differences in outfit, exact nature of their abilities, and the color of their eyes and hair, Jinx quite perfectly fit the description Raven had just given just as well as she herself did. She turned her head to look back at a now smugly smiling Jinx. "Touché."
Jinx chuckled, and folded her arms across her chest. "You got that right. Here I am, just as creepy, shady, and supernatural as you; yet in the end, I've actually not only gotten myself well on the road to a bright happy ending but also have a boyfriend, and a quite good one to." Her smile widened and took on a slightly devious tone. "In more ways than one."
Starfire giggled, and Raven face palmed. "Did not need to know that," Raven groaned under her breath.
"But never mind that," Jinx continued, clearly undeterred by her fellow sorceress's reaction to her last comment. "My point is, we may have our subtle differences, and our not so subtle differences as well for that matter, but from a certain point of view, we're actually not entirely all that different. I mean look at us! Gray skin, abnormally colored hair, supernatural eyes, dark mystical powers, 24/7 creepy wardrobe, and we even both at one point or other felt pressured into taking part in something dark and nasty. Honestly, it scares me sometimes just how much alike we are."
"Yeah well, you still have a boyfriend," Raven countered. "I don't, plain and simple."
"For now, yes that is true," Jinx admitted. A sly grin came on the pinkette's face. "Doesn't mean that won't change some time in the future."
Raven directed a deadpan look at the probability manipulator. "You know you're supposed to be a harbinger of bad luck," said Raven. "I am really starting to worry about how hopelessly optimistic you're being about this topic."
"Oh but I have plenty of good reason for such a mood," Jinx responded. "Like I said, we're not entirely all that different; and if I was able to get a special boy to put a glow in my life, then it stands to reason that so can you."
"Agreed," said Starfire, finally rejoining the conversation. "Friend Jinx has quite the good points to offer right now Raven."
"Yeah well, good points or not, I'm still not buying," Raven responded mulishly. "Not all boys are like Kid Flash, let alone have the same taste for girls like me and Jinx."
"True," said Jinx. Then she briefly directed a sly smirk towards the direction of the general area where Kid Flash, Robin, and Beast Boy were gathered. "But there is at least one other person on this team that I know of who is currently present with us that may yet fit the bill just as well as him."
Raven turned her head to where Jinx was pointing, directed a deadpan look at Jinx, and opened her mouth as if about to make a sarcastic comment. But then she paused, clearly now thinking of something, and she looked at the area again. This time, she looked more carefully at just where Jinx was pointing, and noticed that the pinkette wasn't pointing at Kid Flash like the Azarathian had assumed, but rather at a different member of the trio who stood out like a green thumb . . . emphasis on green.
Raven looked back at Jinx, a mixture of incredulity and disgust on her face. "You have got to be kidding me . . ."
"Here they come ya'll! Titans East is in the house!"
At the sound of this exuberant yell from Cyborg, all the other gathered Titans turned their heads to look instinctively towards the East. And sure enough, the distinctive blue T-Ship of Titans East was now slowly cruising downwards towards the Titans Tower island to land. All the Titans stood at attention, ready to greet the new arrivals. Raven in particular now seemed especially focused on the newly arrived guests, internally feeling relieved to have finally escaped from further discussion of what Jinx had been talking about. Jinx smirked, and directed a devious smirk at Starfire, who directed a similar smug look right back. The Tamaranean princess and pinkette probability manipulator were in agreement; they would revisit their newly interrupted discussion again in the near future, whether Raven wanted to or not.
. . . . .
"Are you serious?!" Bumblebee asked. The Titans East ship had landed mere minutes ago, and the members of that branch were now out of the ship and had promptly joined up with whichever of the three groups already present on the island shore had struck their fancy. And thus, Bumblebee and Terra, who had not taken long at all to join up with the other girls present, plus Jinx, had now learned about Cyborg's brand new potential girlfriend Sarah Simms.
Starfire giggled joyously. "Oh how can I possibly not be the serious, friends?" Starfire asked. "I'd never lie or likewise be insincere about something so joyous!"
"Ain't that the truth?" Terra asked, folding her arms across her chest with a mixture of happiness and smugness on her face.
Bumblebee chuckled, and placed her hands on her hips. "Well hot dog!" said the fearless leader of Titans East. "Never would have guessed that good ol' Sparky had it in him." She briefly looked over at Cyborg, who was currently back in a deeply entrenched discussion with the Herald, and then looked back at Starfire with her smile still on her face. "Do describe the lucky girl again."
"Gladly," said Starfire. But then she reached into her pocket and drew out her communicator. "In fact, I'll even show her to you." She accessed a photo she'd managed to find on the internet of Sarah hanging around with some of the kids she worked with and positioned her communicator so that the three girls from out of town could get a good look at the civilian girl who'd apparently now been lucky enough to catch Cyborg's eye.
Bumblebee whistled. "Hoowee, Sparky's one lucky man this year!"
The other girls chuckled in agreement; except for Raven, who just rolled her eyes and directed an annoyed glare seemingly to the side. Starfire exited out of the picture of Sarah, closed her communicator, and slipped it back into her pocket before clasping her hands together and looking back at her three honorary Titan gal pals, still completely unaware of how Raven had just reacted to witnessing their little moment of particularly girly behavior. The other girls also seemed unaware.
Except for Jinx. A small smirk came on her face as she noticed Raven's current behavior, and she looked over to Terra. She cleared her throat loud enough to attract the geomancer's attention. Terra turned her head to look at the pinkette sorceress, a small smile still on her face. "So Terra," said Jinx. "I hear things have been . . . flowing if you will . . . quite smoothly between you and Fish Boy."
Terra giggled, her smile widening and her blue eyes agleam upon hearing this comment from Jinx. Only three days after Terra had been announced and introduced to the other Titans as the team's newest member, the blonde geomancer had very quickly managed to form quite a strong friendship with the pinkette probability manipulator. Maybe it was the fact that they both had somewhat shady pasts with the Titans before officially becoming permanent heroes and members of the team. Perhaps it was the fact that they both still had a somewhat substantial amount of work to do to convince the civilians they were now sworn to protect that they were worthy of being trusted by them just as strongly as their team mates trusted them. Or maybe it was even the fact that they'd both managed to be on not entirely pleasant terms with Raven at some point or other in their lives. But whatever the reason was, they both got along quite well, considered each other very good friends, and quite enjoyed talking together.
"Indeed they have," Terra said with a warm smile on her face as she thought of Aqualad, her eyes subconsciously directing a loving sidelong glance at her Atlantean boyfriend as he talked with Robin, Beast Boy, Speedy, and Kid Flash. "Quite honestly, ever since Garth and I got together, my life's been almost like a fairy tale." Jinx briefly raised her eyebrow, but then discreetly shook her head side to side to clear her thoughts back to paying attention, simultaneously deducing that, by Garth, Terra was likely referring to Aqualad. "Couldn't be happier," Terra then said.
Jinx smiled at her friend, briefly looked in the same direction, and then directly back at the blonde. "You know, I've heard plenty of rumors about him smelling an awful lot like rotting fish every now and then. Of course, having very rarely, if ever, gotten the chance to really hang out in his presence all that often myself, I cannot really say whether or not there is any truth to these tales. Care to give me a straight answer?"
Terra chuckled. "Well I can tell you right now that the rumors are false. Garth most certainly does not smell like rotting fish." She sighed in content, and folded her arms across her chest. "And even if they were true, I'd still love him anyway, fish smell and all."
"I know how you feel girl," said Jinx. The pinkette let out a contented sigh of her own, now thinking about Kid Flash. "As happy as our relationship is, Wally still gets me on my wit's end every now and then."
"Wally?" Terra asked.
"Kid Flash," Jinx clarified.
"Oh." Terra then thought to herself, clearly confused. "How do you know his name is Wally?"
"Never mind that, we can discuss it at a later date," said Jinx. "Point is, as charming as my boyfriend is, he still drives me up the wall; and not through hygiene, mind you. Honestly, I've personally experienced just how amazing and brilliant he can be, but he almost always acts so immature."
Terra chuckled, unconsciously thinking of how very similar to Beast Boy this behavior from Kid Flash sounded. "I know the feeling."
"I know right?" said Jinx. "And then there's his appetite. He has to eat so much. Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that all those snacks he eats alongside all his regular meals are virtually one of the only defense mechanisms keeping him from being killed by his own metabolism, I'd probably have blown my stack at him over it within the first three or four days of dating him."
Terra just barely managed to hold back a snigger. "I'll say."
"And don't get me started on how much of a flirt he is," Jinx continued. "Granted, he's always stayed faithful to me and he doesn't go flirting around with other girls nearly as often as he used to before we got together; but every now and then, he still has the gall to make an occasional flirt pass at some random girl just to see if I'm paying attention, and to get a rise out of me in the event that I am." She raised her hands in the area, a mock annoyed look on her face. "Can you believe him?"
Terra laughed in response, and Jinx smiled. The pinkette lowered her arms. "But nevertheless, in spite of all that, I wouldn't trade him for anything, or any boy. Because let's face it, as irksome as he is, I still love him, and he's quite frankly the only person I know who's truly loved me that strongly enough to the point of bringing out the light I didn't even know I had in me. And I'm most certainly not gonna wish that away any more than you'd wish away Aqualad for a boy who's less likely to at some point to smell like rotting fish."
Terra directed a mock glare at Jinx. "Again with the rotting fish," she grumbled good naturedly, eliciting a fit of happy laughter from the pinkette.
"What's so funny?"
The two former villainesses turned heroines turned their heads to look at Raven, who was now staring at them with her eyebrow raised in suspicion and confusion at their recent behavior. Starfire and Bumblebee also directed their gaze towards the blonde and pinkette, now quite distracted from what they'd been discussing.
"Oh nothing you'd probably care too much about," said Terra good naturedly. "But Jinx certainly appeared to find it funny; not like you'd know anyway."
Raven's eyes narrowed. "For your information," said the Azarathian, "I do have a sense of humor. I just have higher standards on my definition of what's funny and what's just plain amateurishly juvenile."
"Well in that case your future boyfriend better keep at it," said Jinx, winking slyly at the purple haired girl. "He's bound to find out what gets your funny bone working at some point or other if he keeps trying long enough."
Raven mentally groaned. "A: We are not resuming this discussion, and B: there is no chance whatsoever that I could ever consider someone having someone like him, especially him of all people, as my boyfriend . . . and that's assuming I ever even actually have a boyfriend, let alone want one."
"What's this all about?" Bumblebee asked. Terra looked likewise confused.
Starfire giggled, and the three visiting girls looked in her direction, Terra and Bumblebee still looking confused, and Jinx with a smile on her face. "Not too long before you arrived," Starfire explained, "Jinx and I were talking with Raven, and friend Jinx appeared to come under the impression that friend Raven and Beast Boy would make quite the pleasing couple. And having listened to what friend Jinx had to say to back up her opinion on this manner, I must admit that I quite agree with her."
Raven directed a deadpan glare at the Tamaranean, though internally she could feel her heart sinking and could sense a chilling sense of despair and horror come upon her. "No, no, no," she thought towards the chipper alien princess. "Not now Star."
Bumblebee, to her discredit (or the way Raven currently saw it, credit), still looked confused upon hearing this information. Terra, however, now seemed deep in thought. Then the blonde's eyes brightened deviously, and a wide grin came on her face. She was clearly starting to see the appeal in Jinx and Starfire's side of the matter. The geomancer shifted her eyes from Raven to Jinx, seemingly comparing the two of them. Then she thought to herself about both the similarities she'd managed to take note of between the two gray skinned sorceresses, and the similarities that the pinkette had managed to incidentally highlight between Beast Boy and Kid Flash. Terra directed a wide smile towards Raven, clearly having managed to put two and two together and get four. "Maybe this is just the loyal girlfriend to Aqualad in me talking," Terra began in a self-deprecating manner, "but I quite like this idea."
Starfire giggled, and looked over at Raven, Jinx and Terra following her gaze. "Sorry friend, but it would appear that you seem to be quite the outnumbered."
Raven mentally groaned. "Come on guys," said Raven. "You can't be serious."
Jinx smiled, and lifted her head in an almost haughty style. "Does it look like we're joking?" the pinkette asked in an almost playful sounding tone.
"I certainly don't think so," Terra responded, a small smirk on her face.
Raven sighed. "Look girls, I get it, you're all in the mood for romance and all, what with it being so close to Valentine's Day and all, but let's be realistic. Even if I wanted to have a relationship with him, let alone actually felt that way towards him, a relationship like that couldn't possibly work between me and Beast Boy. I mean come on, this is Beast Boy of all people."
"Oh I beg to differ," said Jinx. "Things have worked out quite swimmingly between me and Kid Flash."
"I fail to see how that's relevant," said Raven, her eyes narrowed, clearly aware now that she was not getting anywhere in her effort to uphold her side of the argument. The fact that Starfire and Terra responded by giggling didn't help either.
"Need I remind you again," said Jinx, "that you and I are actually not that different? We have similar appearances, similar powers, similar taste in fashion, and somewhat similar backgrounds. We could yet have similar taste in boys."
"Beast Boy and Kid Flash are nothing alike," Raven groaned, but at this point even her tone of voice wasn't on her side. And judging by the victorious grins that came on the faces of the redhead, pinkette, and blonde standing before her, her gal pals knew it to.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that if I were you," said Terra. She placed her arm around Jinx's shoulders as if to visually show that she was backing her friend up. "From what I've heard of Kid Flash, and what Jinx has spoken to me from personal experience, I think I can safely say that both him and Beast Boy are quite similar. I mean for starters, even you can agree that they're both hilariously immature right?"
"That is definitely true," Raven willingly admitted. "Though I'd personally say that they are much more irritating than hilarious in how immature they can be." She directed a glare at her three gal pals once more. "But just because they're similar in that regard doesn't mean . . ."
"Secondly," said Jinx, interrupting Raven and seemingly not at all caring about the minor dig Raven had just incidentally taken at her boyfriend. "From what I've heard, and more often than not what Starfire and the others tell me, as immature and admittedly quite idiotic he often tends to behave, he has his moments in which he can actually prove himself a heck of a lot smarter than he lets on."
"She is correct," Starfire piped in. "We have all been present to witness Beast Boy having the occasional moment of being quite, as he puts it, the genius."
"She's right you know," Terra agreed.
"What does that have to do with Kid . . .?"
"Much like Beast Boy," Jinx explained. "Kid Flash, as immature and scatterbrained as he can be, is not without his hidden depths when it comes to his brain. Believe it or not, he's actually got quite the brilliant mind and is an absolute whiz when it comes to science. I mean, just ask him what time it is while pointing at a conveniently located antique grandfather clock, and he'll be liable to tell you the entire process and complicated exposition package on how the clock was built, and how it works. Not to mention he can list the entirety of the Periodic Table without looking at a physical illustration of it, can describe the entire process of the formation and eruption of a volcano step by step, and spin out all manner of plausible, albeit quite futuristic, scientific explanations for apparent acts of magic that are incapable of being reasonably passed off as the generic smoke and mirrors variety you usually find among common magicians. Believe me, you wouldn't believe how many magic shows we've visited on dates that he's ended up getting kicked out of over heckling and loudly hollering exactly how the magicians' tricks work in full earshot of the audience."
Raven sighed. As much as she now very much hated to admit it, the three girls in front of her had a perfectly valid point. "Even so," she then said. "Kid Flash is at least able to act like a gentleman when the situation demands it. And let's face it; you've seen what Beast Boy's like."
"Beast Boy's also capable of being the gentleman," said Starfire.
"She is right," said Terra. "Beast Boy is not incapable of acting like a gentleman." She directed a devious looking smirk towards the half demoness. "Believe me, I'd know."
Raven felt her heart sink yet again. Her gal pals had once again countered her argument perfectly, and with a valid point to. "Of course," Raven thought to herself. "Beast Boy used to have a crush on Terra, and even got to go on one date with her. So of course she'd know."
"You know," said Bumblebee, finally deeming it convenient for her to enter in on the conversation. "After listening to all that, I have to admit that I actually quite agree with you three," she then said to Starfire, Jinx, and Terra.
Raven groaned. "Not you to."
Bumblebee blew a raspberry to her side at thin air. "Oh please," said the African American girl. "Be reasonable Raven. I know you've been listening to our gal pals here, and I can tell that even you have to admit that they ain't wrong."
"Yeah well, agreement or not, just because things have worked out the way they have between Kid Flash and Jinx doesn't mean that a similar effort will work out nearly as well, if at all, between me and Beast Boy."
"Well that certainly doesn't mean there's any harm in at least giving it a shot," said Terra.
Raven sighed. "I mean it Terra. Be realistic. There's no way there could possibly be any reasonable means to believe that a relationship of that nature would be able to work between me and Beast Boy. We're too different."
"Opposites attract," said Starfire.
"Cliché much?" Raven asked.
"Cliché yes," Jinx admitted. "But also 100% true." She gestured to indicate herself, Starfire, and Terra. "Right this very minute, you have one half of three legitimate examples standing right in front of you."
Bumblebee chuckled, and looked back at Raven. "Beat that girl."
Raven mentally face palmed. "You guys are different. Sure you and your boyfriends have plenty of differences, but you're at least able to complement each other."
"The same could yet be said for you and Beast Boy if you'd just give him a chance," Terra countered.
Raven sighed. Once again, Terra had given a valid point. "Well at the same time," Raven then said, desperate to avoid giving up and losing the argument. "Even with all the attracting opposites between you and your boyfriends, you also each have at least one or two important things in common. Beast Boy and I are nothing alike."
At the sight of the looks that came on the faces of the other four girls upon hearing Raven say this, Raven's heart sank even further. Bumblebee had her eyes narrowed and the rest of her face silently saying 'really?', Jinx and Terra had looks on their faces that clearly showed that they were struggling to avoid bursting out laughing, and Starfire had a facial expression that seemed more like an intermediate expression between Bumblebee's narrow eyed disbelief and Jinx and Terra's amusement. "By Azar," Raven thought to herself. "Is there anything I can say that will convince them of the utter foolishness of what they're suggesting?"
Starfire shook her head side to side, amused smile still on her face. "I'm most sorry to say this Raven, but I'm afraid I must inform you right now that your most recent effort at denying the truth of our claims is the shit of bull."
Raven and the three Titan girls from out of town all gaped at Starfire, all with an exact matching wide eyed and dumbfounded look of shock on their faces at what they'd just heard Starfire say.
Terra was the first to regain her voice and speak out what she and the other three stunned girls were thinking. "Starfire," said the geomancer. "Where did you learn that phrase?"
Starfire nonchalantly pointed at Cyborg, who was currently still deep in conversation with the Herald while Mas and Menos sat on the ground nearby looking half bored and half in despair. "I have heard friend Cyborg say it, and several other apparently quite rare words and phrases of the Earth vocabulary every now and then." Raven, Jinx, and Terra looked each other in the eyes, clearly both somewhat unnerved at the prospect of what sort of vocabulary Starfire had potentially managed to be unwittingly taught by Cyborg and in agreement that Robin would probably not be all that happy if he were to become aware of the matter.
Bumblebee, however, soon fought off her shock and directed a look of intrigued curiosity at the Tamaranean. "Like what?" she then asked.
Starfire directed full attention towards Bumblebee, clearly about to oblige, only for Jinx to slap her hand over the Tamaranean's mouth right as she was about to speak. Thus Starfire ended up quite hilariously speaking in a muffled voice through the pinkette's hand for about one or two minutes before she finally became aware of even having a hand over her mouth in the first place. She directed a confused look at Jinx from above the hand across her mouth, and the probability manipulator shook her head. "Not here, not now," said Jinx. Starfire seemed to think to herself, and then nodded in agreement, and Jinx removed her hand from the redhead's mouth, letting out a small sigh of relief.
"Sorry," said Starfire. "Got a bit off the track." She looked back at Raven. "My point is, regardless of what you might say in your efforts at denial, you and Beast Boy aren't entirely without things in common."
Raven raised her eyebrow at the Tamaranean. "Like what?"
"Well for starters," said Jinx. "Abnormal color."
Raven directed a deadpan glare at the pinkette. "Well duh, but I meant a similarity that matters . . ."
"You both know what it is like to have a romantically broken heart."
Raven gaped at Starfire. The redhead nodded, and pointed at Terra. "Beast Boy used to have the crush on Terra before she left his heart crushed in the aftermath of her betrayal four years ago." Terra nodded her head with her eyes closed and a sad look on her mouth. "And also," Starfire continued. "You yourself, the very year after Terra's betrayal and petrification, got your own heart baited and shattered by the foul dragon Malchior."
Jinx's eyes widened at the name, and she gaped at Starfire. "Say what?! Oh man, I heard that scaly old airbag brag about that during my time working for the Brotherhood, but I never actually believed he was telling the truth." The pinkette looked over at Raven with a look of sympathy on her face. "I'm sorry about that."
Raven sighed, and hung her head, both accepting Jinx's apology and acknowledging the truth in Starfire's words.
"And another thing," Terra then said. Raven turned her attention towards the blonde. "You both have a pretty nasty literal darkness inside you that every now and then works its dared hardest to claw its way out. I've seen how scary you can be when you get particularly out of control; and you yourself both told me about and showed me footage of that creepy ass werewolf monster thing that Beast Boy can sometimes transform into."
Raven thought to herself, and then nodded her head with her eyes closed once more. "What can I say?" she thought to herself. "She's right. They're all right." She lifted her head to face the four other girls. "Well," she said aloud. "I guess you're right."
"See?" said Jinx. "We told you. It's not that farfetched."
"Well even so," said Raven, hanging her head once more. "I'm really not sure if I actually feel that way for him now, or even ever could. And he certainly doesn't feel that way about me."
"You know this for certain?" Terra asked.
"Well," said Raven. "Not really." The Azarathian looked briefly over in Beast Boy's direction. "Lately, let's just say that I've managed to get a considerably boost in exposure to his emotional output, and right now, he gives off so much emotional feedback that I'm starting to have quite a lot of trouble getting used to the increased exposure and in picking out individual emotions from the vast overall sea."
"So in other words," said Jinx. "He could very well be feeling something for you of that nature without you, or potentially even him, even knowing."
"That still doesn't change the fact that I don't feel that way for him."
"And you know this for certain?" Bumblebee asked.
Raven was about to instantly respond, but then she paused and thought to herself. "Well," she eventually managed to say. "Honestly . . ." she hung her head. "I don't really know."
"Well there's no harm in trying to figure out the answer to that," said Bumblebee. She placed her hand on the empath's shoulder. "Take your time. Think it over. Give yourself and the grass stain a chance."
"I agree with friend Bumblebee," said Starfire. "Give friend Beast Boy and yourself a chance, and honestly consider the possibility. You both deserve happiness with the rest of us. And it has been the two and a half years since Malchior. I believe you've waited the long enough to give your heart another chance."
Raven sighed. "Well I guess that's true," she admitted. "But still . . ."
Jinx and Terra both placed a hand on Raven's shoulders, and Raven briefly tensed, and then looked up at the pinkette and blonde. They smiled, and nodded their heads.
"Nobody gets true happiness by playing it safe," said Jinx.
"Mm-hm," said Terra. "Sometimes Raven, in order to truly gain, you need to be willing to open yourself up and risk pain."
Raven looked intently at Jinx and Terra, thought to herself, and then sighed. "Well, I guess I'll at least think about it . . . for now."
Jinx and Terra nodded their heads, and so did Starfire and Bumblebee. "That's all we currently need to hear friend," said Starfire. Jinx and Terra removed their hands from Raven's shoulders and took a couple steps back to give Raven some of her breathing room back.
"Ok then," said Bumblebee, clasping her hands together for good measure. "Moving on. Anything else you think we can discuss right now while we're waiting for North and South?"
"Why yes friend," said Starfire. The Tamaranean turned her head towards the winged girl, a joyous smile on her face. "How have things been going between you and your boyfriend the Herald?"
"Say what?!" Jinx and Terra asked, gaping in surprise at the Tamaranean. Clearly, neither of them had been aware of this.
Raven also gaped at Starfire, but for a different reason. "How did she find out?" she thought to herself. "I just learned that information myself yesterday when Beast Boy told me . . ." Then her eyes narrowed, and she directed a small glare towards the still happy Starfire. "Did she eavesdrop on me . . .?"
Bumblebee's face, meanwhile, was priceless. "How did you know that?!" she then yelled, only to gulp, and clap her hands over her mouth. In a flash, Jinx and Terra turned their heads and gaped in surprise at Bumblebee.
"You've been dating the Herald and you never told anyone?!" said Terra.
"Herald never mentioned this!" said Jinx.
Bumblebee grimaced, Starfire giggled, and Raven face palmed. "This is going to be so much fun," she thought to herself sarcastically.
. . . . .
Meanwhile, all the Titan boys currently present apart from Cyborg, Herald, and the now 11-year old twin speedsters Mas and Menos were having quite the lively discussion of their own.
"I'll bet you're really looking forward to this Valentine's Day now that you and Star finally got together last year," said Aqualad. The Atlantean chuckled. "About time to. Poseidon knows it took you long enough. Heck, the tension was so thick the day we first teamed up against Trident five years ago alone, even the lowliest coral polyp could have seen it!"
Robin chuckled, half in genuine good humor and half in nervous embarrassment. "Good to know," he managed to say.
Speedy chuckled. "So . . ." said the archer. "Any good stories to tell?"
The other four teenage boys in the group all glared at the archer. "1: Ew," said Robin. "2: No. And 3: even if I did, I wouldn't tell you about them." The Boy Wonder folded his arms across his chest. "Star and I have a very strong policy between us that we do not kiss and tell."
"Amen," said Kid Flash.
"A worthy cause," said Beast Boy.
"Spoken like a true noble Atlantean," Aqualad agreed.
"Oh come on guys!" Speedy yelled. "Have some fun!"
"There's a big difference between having fun and being indecent," said Robin.
"Yeah," said Kid Flash. "Sure I'm a bit of a flirt, but I'm not a pervert."
"Agreed," said Aqualad. "This may be because I'm an Atlantean, but I treat my love life with Terra very seriously. And I most certainly am not going to spout out about to every random person willing or unwilling to listen. Terra deserves better than that."
"Darn straight," said Beast Boy. "And sure Cyborg and I may tease Robin about this every now and then, even before he and Star finally got together. But all that's just talk and jokes. We have standards."
Speedy shook his head, a disbelieving look on his face. "God you guys are such prudes."
"Don't bash it till you try it," said Kid Flash.
Robin face palmed. "Seriously Wally?" he thought to himself. Then he abruptly pointed his finger towards his right just as the other boys turned their heads to look at him at the sound of his face palming. "And for the 5th time Mas and Menos, no. Starfire is still off limits. She's mine. Hands off."
Sure enough, Mas and Menos were indeed standing not too far away from the small group of teenage boys. With a synchronized groan of defeat, they turned around and started walking dejectedly back towards Cyborg and Herald.
"Oh caca," said Mas.
"No eres divertido," Menos chimed in.
Beast Boy face palmed. "Good grief," he grumbled. "It's been several months now since you and Star got together Robin."
"I know," Robin groaned. He finally turned his head in the direction of the two twin speedsters. "Seriously, you'd think they'd have found something else to attract their attention by now."
"I feel you," said Aqualad. He looked in the direction of the dejected Mas and Menos. "Still, I sure am glad they're not trying to give me the same grief in attempting to make plays on Terra."
Speedy chuckled, and directed a wolf-like grin at the Atlantean. "Don't give me ideas," he then purred deviously.
Aqualad turned his head and directed a death glare at the archer. "Speedy I swear, if you say so much as a word of encouragement to them about making the moves on my girl, I will personally give you an up close and painful introduction to one of my shark buddies."
"Oh that ought to be fun to watch," said Kid Flash, his hands clasping together and a gleefully eager smile on his face.
Speedy merely chuckled and gave Aqualad a hearty slap on the shoulder. "Calm down man, I'm just messing with you."
"Ah man," said Kid Flash.
Robin and Beast Boy chuckled, earning a deadpan glare from the speedster. Speedy grinned, and Aqualad sighed in relief. "Well that's good to hear," said the Atlantean.
Beast Boy then directed his gaze at the archer, a mischievous smirk on his face. "You know Speedy," the changeling began. "I noticed in your posts on the Titans' page that you have 'plans' for this Valentine's Day. Care to elaborate?"
At this, Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash all turned their own gazes towards the archer, who narrowed his eyes and glared at the changeling. "I do believe that's none of your business."
"Is it my business?" Robin asked, a smug grin on his face. "Come on pal, for old time's sake?"
"Yeah," said Kid Flash. "We've been your pals since the beginning! You can tell us!"
"I must agree with them," said Aqualad, a smirk of his own now on his face. "Heck, considering how you're on the same team as me, I'm surprised that you still haven't even told me the full details about it all, let alone anyone else in Titans East."
Speedy sighed. "Look guys, I'll give you the full rundown when I feel like it. But right now, until Valentine's Day arrives, you're just going to have to wait."
Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash thought to themselves, and then nodded their heads in understanding and agreement. Beast Boy, however, directed a narrow eyed glare at the archer.
Speedy then directed a smug smirk at the changeling. "You know Beast Boy," said Speedy. "At the same time that you're being so eager to try to convince me to spill the beans on my own plans for this year's Valentine's Day, I could just as easily be grilling you on what your plans are this year. Isn't that right?"
Beast Boy gulped, and a clearly nervous look came on his face. Speedy smirked. Clearly, he'd managed to score a home run. And judging by the grins that came on the faces of Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash, they clearly had reached the same conclusion.
"You know Beast Boy," said Aqualad. "I'd quite like to know myself what it is you've got planned this year. She may be my girlfriend, but you're still a good friend of hers, and I'd like to make sure that you've got a means of enjoying this year's Valentine's Day as much as she will alongside me."
"Yeah Beast Boy!" said Kid Flash. "Tell us man! Tell us!"
Beast Boy mentally groaned, closing his eyes and letting a toothy grimace come on his face. He opened his eyes. "Look guys, come on, I'm doing nothing anything all that big. Ok? I'm just gonna go spend the day at the zoo with Raven. That's all."
At the sight of the almost conspiratorial look that Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Speedy directed at each other, Beast Boy mentally face palmed. It appeared that he'd now dug himself even deeper.
"Raven huh?" said Aqualad. He chuckled, and folded his arms across his chest, a half smug and half approving look on his face. "Not a bad choice."
Beast Boy rapidly waved his hands side to side in Aqualad's direction. "Hey now, let's not go that far Aqualad!" the changeling yelled frantically. "It isn't what you think it is! We're just going as friends that's all!"
"That's what they all say," said Kid Flash.
"I'm serious," said Beast Boy. "Raven and I aren't at that kind of level! We are not dating!"
"Not yet," Speedy commented dryly.
Beast Boy glared at the archer. "I. Am. Not. Dating. Raven."
"You know Beast Boy," said Aqualad. "For a guy who supposedly doesn't feel any sort of feelings for Raven of the nature we're suspecting, you're acting rather different from how someone who legitimately doesn't have those feelings would be acting."
The changeling raised his eyebrow. "Elaborate."
"Well for starters," Aqualad explained, "when a person legitimately doesn't have feelings of that nature for someone suggested, they tend to act either disgusted, angry, or outright laugh at the idea."
"So?"
"Well here's the thing," said Kid Flash. "You, sir, are not acting like that at all. Rather, you're acting much more as if you're feeling embarrassed and shocked and trying to deny it to us in order to avoid having to admit it out loud and force it out of hiding."
Upon hearing this, Beast Boy thought to himself, and then a nervous expression came on his face as he realized that the Atlantean and speedster had a point. "So . . .?" he then asked, clearly more for the sake of trying to prolong things rather than out of genuine confusion.
"So in other words," said Speedy. "Despite what you're attempting to say to the contrary, you're acting suspiciously as if you are in fact crushing on, and perhaps even in love with, our dear dreary friend Raven."
"Yeah," Kid Flash agreed. "And don't try to deny it, we've got evidence from other examples to back us up on how you're behaving. Just ask Dawn from Pokemon whenever Lyra got on her case in regard to Ash."
"Or better yet," said Aqualad. "Ask Robin. He certainly acted the same way in regard to Starfire that you're currently behaving in regard to Raven."
Upon hearing that, Robin found himself gaping at the three visiting teen boys. Early on in listening in, he'd merely believed that the entire thing was entirely a joke. But now, having heard Aqualad comparing his own behavior in regard to Starfire to the way Beast Boy was now behaving in regard to Raven, he couldn't help but wonder if there was perhaps also truth in what his three out of town friends were saying. He looked over at Beast Boy, noting the currently still somewhat nervous look on his green face, and found himself unconsciously wondering if he himself had perhaps looked like this every now and then when teased about his feelings for Starfire.
"Maybe I should look into this some more," Robin thought to himself. He stepped forward. "Hey guys," said the Boy Wonder. "Mind if I go talk to Beast Boy in private for a little bit? There's something I just thought of that really is better being talked about between just two people, and I think it may be a good idea for me to talk to him about it."
Beast Boy directed a seemingly relieved glance at the Boy Wonder, and the three visiting boys thought to themselves. Then they nodded.
"If you say so," said Speedy.
"Sure thing," Aqualad agreed.
"What about the other guests?" Kid Flash asked. "They still haven't arrived yet."
"I know," said Robin. "But it's really important I get this thing taken care of as soon as possible. And in the event I'm not here by the time Titans North and South arrive, Cyborg's still gonna be here, and he can be trusted with handling things until Beast Boy and I come back."
The teen speedster thought to himself. "In that case, ok then. Go on ahead. We'll continue catching up later."
"Thank you," said Robin. "Come on Beast Boy." The Boy Wonder and the shapeshifter promptly headed over to the tower and entered into the front door elevator.
. . . . .
"So," said Beast Boy. He and Robin were now right back in the common room. "You wanted to talk to me about something?"
Robin nodded his head, and then looked around as if trying to determine if there was anyone potentially watching or eavesdropping. He looked back at Beast Boy. "I have a feeling you'd probably appreciate talking about this matter more if done just between the two of us right now without anyone else around to join in or overhear."
Beast Boy raised his eyebrow. "What are you . . .?" Then his eyes widened. "Oh no . . ."
Robin nodded his head.
Beast Boy groaned. "Oh come on dude!" he yelled. "Seriously?! First the Beast and all the other animals in my head, then Aqualad, KF, and Speedy, now you?! Is there anyone who isn't going to get up on my case and suspect that I am either in love with or have a crush on Raven today?!"
Robin extended his hand towards Beast Boy to get the green boy to calm down. "Relax Beast Boy," said the Boy Wonder. "Right now, I just want us to talk it out and see if we can adequately come to an understanding of exactly what's going on."
For a brief moment, Beast Boy tensed up and grimaced, still clearly not entirely comfortable. But then he took a deep breath, exhaled, and nodded his head. He opened his eyes and looked straight at Robin. "Ok," said the changeling. "We can talk."
"Good." Robin then lifted up his left index finger as if signaling 'hold it'. "But first," Robin then said. Without warning he picked up his rolled up newspaper from that morning, which was still lying on the kitchen island, and slapped Beast Boy in the face with it. Beast Boy was caught quite off guard by this, and by the time he managed to turn his head to face Robin once more, he had just enough time to raise his eyebrow in confusion before the Boy Wonder pointed his finger at the changeling and sad, "That's for your little stunt this morning with the calendar."
For a brief moment, Beast Boy remained confused. Then he finally put two and two together, and he made a sheepish grin upon remembering just what Robin was talking about. "Oh yeah," said the shapeshifter. "Sorry about that."
Robin nodded his head. "Just try to refrain from similar incidents, and we're good." The Boy Wonder took a deep breath. "And one more thing I might as well get over with before we talk about the original intended topic." He placed a hand on Beast Boy's shoulder. "I'll tell you this now, I'm sorry for having all those couples among the team, myself and Star included, following you around after Halloween last year."
Beast Boy's eyes widened upon hearing this. "How did you . . .?"
"Cyborg, Starfire, and I may have been eavesdropping on you and Raven yesterday."
Beast Boy's eyes narrowed. "Seriously?" the changeling asked.
"Seriously," Robin responded.
Beast Boy growled. "I should have guessed that you would do something like this."
"And again, I'm sorry." The Boy Wonder placed his hands on the changeling's shoulders. "Look the point is, I understand now just how badly you were being affected, and I am sorry that I only ended up making things worse in my effort to make sure you were alright. If I had known how adversely you were being affected by the watching, I would have called it off; honest, I would have."
Beast Boy thought to himself. "Well, if you say so."
"That's good." Robin took his hands off of beast Boy's shoulders. "And now, it's time we switched over to my originally planned topic of discussion." Beast Boy lifted his finger as if about to speak, but Robin held out his hand to indicate for the changeling to be quiet. "Beast Boy, please just stay calm and let the two of us talk this out. Trust me, it's better we get this over with then let all the other guys join in and keep making it worse."
Beast Boy thought to himself. "Fair point."
Robin nodded his head. "Good. Now let's start with this; do you have a crush on Raven?"
Beast Boy glared. "Dude, did you not hear me the first few times I said this? Of course not!"
"In which case we move on to our next question," said Robin. "For starters, if you truly don't have a crush or any similar romantically based feelings for her, then why were you not too long ago acting just like I did in regard to Starfire before Tokyo?" This question caught Beast Boy more than a little off guard, much to the amusement of the Beast. "And secondly," Robin continued, seizing the conveniently provided advantage. "If you don't have such feelings, then just what do you feel in regard to Raven?"
For what seemed like hours, Beast Boy silently blustered and floundered, trying desperately to think of something to say in response to the Boy Wonder's questions. Robin, still quite patient and not apparently in any hurry, merely folded his arms across his chest and gazed blankly at the shapeshifter, tapping his right foot on the floor once every two minutes. It took all of 18 minutes before Beast Boy finally managed to respond. "It's complicated," said the shapeshifter.
"Now that," said the Boy Wonder, his finger raised as if to emphasize his point, "is proof to support my side of the argument. With pauses like that, it's usually a good sign for the opposite side."
Beast Boy sighed. "Look Robin," said the changeling. "I used to think it was perfectly easy to describe how I feel when it comes to Raven. But over the years, and particularly the last couple months, plus yesterday and this morning, let's just say that things have changed since the early years of our friendship. And as a result, it's not as easy to . . . well . . . define if you will, the nature of our relationship as it used to be."
"Understandable." Robin nodded his head. "But even so, can you at least tell for certain if you perhaps at least feel in any way different now about Raven compared to how you used to feel?"
Beast Boy thought to himself yet again. "Well . . . yes."
"When did they change?"
"Um . . ." Beast Boy thought, quite uncertain now. "Well, I can't say for certain, I actually noticed it for certain around yesterday or this morning. But heck, for all I know, I could have been feeling this way for months, or even years, before then. I wouldn't know. I'm useless at identifying the more complicated emotions."
Robin nodded.
"But it's definitely not a crush or anything like that," Beast Boy continued. "I mean come on, if I did have such feelings for Raven, then I'd be thinking about her all the time, or at least a heck of a lot earlier than I've currently started, and I'd always keep stealing glances every now and then, and I'd know and make note of all manner of tiny details about her, like how her favorite colors are blue and purple, or how her favorite tea herb is jasmine, or how her favorite genre is horror, or that she favorite flower is the orchid, or how she secretly enjoys watching MLP: Friendship is Magic or . . ."
Beast Boy managed to stop speaking, and Robin just calmly stared at him with a half blank and half amused facial expression. The changeling sighed. "Ok," he admitted. "Maybe I do have a crush on her. But even if that's the case, it's just a crush. That's all."
"Maybe," said Robin. "But like you yourself just said, you have trouble with identifying the more complicated emotions when feeling them. Whatever it is you feel for Raven, it could yet be a heck of a lot stronger than a mere crush. And that being said," he pointed towards the front windows of the common room. "Whatever it is you feel for Raven," the Boy Wonder continued. "Would you perhaps say that it's different at the very least, or potentially stronger at the most, then what you felt for Terra?"
Beast Boy thought to himself. "Well . . . maybe, I'm not sure." He raised his hands up in mere seconds so as to forestall any potential comment from Robin. "Look dude, I know that I'm probably sounding like a child with comments like that. But seriously, I don't know. I'm like Naruto here before his experiences in The Last. My parents died when I was eight, the people I stayed with in between my parents and you guys showed me varying degrees of love, some of them bordering on outright hate, and I haven't had enough personal experience to tell the difference between the different kinds and forms of love, let alone completely recognize love itself. I've never had anyone to help me figure it out or give me advice on it before."
Robin nodded his head. "Understandable," said the Boy Wonder. "Believe me, I've had somewhat similar experiences that you're now going through; Batman certainly didn't help either. Trust me, if it hadn't been for personal experience with romantic drama, loads of time to think and come to terms, and possibly a little therapy and guidance from Raven and you guys, I probably would be at the same state as you." He placed his hand on Beast Boy's shoulder. "Trust me, I'm willing to help you out with this."
Beast Boy let a small smile come on his face. "Thanks buddy."
"You're welcome." Robin removed his hand from the changeling's shoulder. "And to start, let me ask you this. You're already thinking that maybe what you're feeling for Raven is different in some way from what you felt for Terra, and you've already managed to identify what you used to feel for Terra as a mere schoolyard crush. That being said, do you think you can attempt to describe in more detail what you feel for Raven?"
Beast Boy thought to himself, being extra careful and taking his time. "Um . . . can I get back to you on that? I've never been asked to do a task like that before, and I'm still working on sorting it all out in my head."
Robin nodded his head. "That's perfectly fine Beast Boy. Just remember, once you do have a proper answer for that question, just let me know, and I'll be perfectly happy to tell you if what you feel for Raven sounds more similar to how I used to feel for Batgirl, or how I still currently feel now for Starfire."
"Ok then." Then Beast Boy's eyes widened. "Wait a minute . . . what's this about Batgirl?"
"That's a story for a later date," said Robin. He pointed at Beast Boy, a stern glare on his face. "And one that I'd very much prefer that Starfire hear coming out of my own mouth thank you very much."
Beast Boy gulped. "Understood.
"Good."
"Well even that aside," said Beast Boy. "In the event that what I've currently got going on with Raven turns out to be a Starfire situation . . . I mean, how? That shouldn't be possible!"
"Beast Boy," said Robin. "We deal with the impossible all the time. Really, in a universe like this, there isn't really such thing as impossible."
Beast Boy sighed. "Fair point, but still, we're so different . . ."
"Opposites attract."
Beast Boy narrowed his eyes. "Cliché much?"
"It's the truth Beast Boy," Robin responded. "And not just in books and movies and other forms of media. There are actual examples of opposites attract couples in real life, and successful ones to at that."
"Name three," said Beast Boy.
"That's easy," Robin responded instantly. He pointed at himself. "For starters, there's me and Star. As I'm sure you and the other Titans are all quite aware, Starfire is almost always so very bright, outgoing, trusting, idealistic, and happy go lucky; whereas I, on the other hand, am more guarded, brooding, obsessive, careful, and down to earth. Also, as careful as I tend to be, I tend to leap into situations before I look and work to find a way to survive mid-fall, whereas Starfire, rather ironically considering she can actually fly, tends to be more likely to look before she leaps." He pointed towards the sun. "To put it simply, she's the bright and joyous sun to my dark and grim moon."
Beast Boy looked over at the sun, and then back at Robin. He nodded his head, an impressed look on his face at the quite valid point Robin had just brought up.
Robin mentally cheered in triumph, a small smile now on his face. "Second example," the Boy Wonder continued. "Kid Flash and Jinx. Jinx, as we know quite well, is quite down to Earth, takes things seriously, thinks things through, has a calm demeanor, and has extra strong drive. Kid Flash, on the other hand, while admittedly capable of being quite smart, is also very rash, impulsive, hyperactive, somewhat short in attention span, and can also be a bit of a wiseass." Beast Boy chuckled upon hearing that last bit, and Robin pointed at him once again, but this time with a small silent snigger on his face ruining his attempt at looking stern. "But don't tell him I called him that."
"Don't worry dude," said Beast Boy, still struggling to avoid bursting out laughing. "Your secret's safe with me."
Robin nodded. "And for my final example I can immediately provide; we have Aqualad and Terra."
Beast Boy snapped back to serious mode, full attention now on Robin and ready to hear what the Boy Wonder had to say. "Go on."
"Well here's the thing with them," Robin explained. "Terra, while admittedly a bit like you on some levels, also tends to be at times rather guarded, rigid, and firm like a mountain. Aqualad on the other hand, while a little more serious and down to earth like me, is also a bit more flexible and allows himself to flow and adapt, much like a stream of water."
Beast Boy thought to himself, and then nodded. "Ok you win that round," said the changeling. "But even so, in your case, plus theirs, the differences complement each other."
"So could yours and Raven's if given the chance."
"But you guys also have important stuff in common! Raven and I are nothing alike!"
"I have full view of your coloring, a geomancer, a dragon, a werewolf-like monster, and a demonic side, that say otherwise."
Beast Boy sighed. "Ok yeah, weak argument on my end. But still, in the event that I actually do love her, and by some miracle she feels the same, we're still teammates! And aren't superheroes like us supposed to not be allowed to have romantic relationships between teammates?"
"That would be true," said Robin, "if we were having this conversation at any time before Tokyo." He raised his finger to emphasize his upcoming next point. "But after what's happened in Tokyo and the months that have followed since, times have changed. And even if I were to try to claim to believe in that rule, it would be quite counterproductive. I mean come on, it would be awfully hypocritical of me now to try to stand for and enforce that rule amongst the team considering both how I've allowed Jinx and Kid Flash, Aqualad and Terra, and now apparently quite a few other couples that I wasn't even aware of flourish and openly exist amongst the team, and how I myself am now dating Star."
The Boy Wonder folded his arms across his chest, a happy grin on his face. "And besides, regardless of what Batman says about that rule or any similar ones regarding romance in general, he's never really been able to properly enforce that rule amongst any superhero group outside the Bat Family. But outside that, he doesn't really have the authority or power to really get those rules to work. Just look at the Justice League. He's both one of the founders, and virtually one of the closest things they have to an overall leader, and there are still members of that group who have romantic designs on someone. Everyone in the hero community knows that Superman and Lois Lane have a thing going on. Wonder Woman's reportedly managed to meet up with a man who's basically a carbon copy of her old World War II buddy Steve Trevor all the way down to being named after that same ancestor of his, and used to have a thing for Batman."
"Say what now?" asked Beast Boy.
"The Flash is married to Iris West," Robin continued. "And they had already tied the knot before the league was formed. Hal Jordan is currently still pining over Carol Ferris and trying everything he can to find a way to break through to her in spite of her currently actively working as a Star Sapphire. John Stewart is currently still going strong with Vixen. Hawkwoman and Hawkman were already married before the league was formed. Aquaman, as king of Atlantis, is married to Queen Mera and they have a son. Metamorpho was able to successfully marry Sapphire Stagg before he joined the league. Black Canary and Green Arrow have a thing going on, as do Huntress and Question. Zatanna is currently rumored to have a thing going on with John Constantine. Doctor Fate is married to Inza. Really, I could list so many other examples right now. And even without all them, Batman's hardly any better an example of sticking with those rules."
Beast Boy raised his eyebrow. "Oh really?"
"Really." Robin lifted his hand to forestall further comment from Beast Boy. "But that's not the point right now. Look Beast Boy, the point is, if you do turn out to be in love with Raven, and she reciprocates, then there's really nothing to stop you." He placed his hand on the changeling's shoulder. "And I'm most certainly not gonna stand in your way. And take from this what you wish, but all I'm saying now is to just give it a chance. Really go and explore the possibility. For all we know, you and Raven could very well be just right for each other. I mean, all of Heaven certainly thinks so, so why shouldn't we?"
Beast Boy nervously chuckled. "Fair enough."
"And in any event, however this whole matter unfolds and turns out, we'll be there for you."
Beast Boy thought to himself, and then nodded. "I guess it's worth taking a shot." He hung his head, and then nodded it up and down. He looked back up at Robin. "And I guess it looks like my upcoming planned hopeful zoo trip between just me and Raven this Valentine's Day could prove to be an even bigger opportunity then I thought."
Robin's eyes widened. "That early?"
"No time like the present," Beast Boy responded. He then hung his head once more. "Though admittedly, I think I might need more than a little assistance in figuring out how to get things started properly. Like we've both made clear, I've got very little experience. Plus, I know for a fact that what I did for Terra won't work on Raven, and since there's so much about Raven that I may yet not know, I'd very much prefer I don't make myself look presumptuous or anything. . ."
"Have no fear Beast Boy." Robin placed his hand on Beast Boy's shoulder, a small smile on his face. "I know just the thing to get the ball rolling between you two."
The relative silence in the air was abruptly shattered at the sound of what appeared to be jet engines. The two boys looked out the windows just in time to see what appeared to be two flying vehicles shaped exactly like the T-ship (only bigger), one of them silvery gray and the other a dark forest green, heading towards the island on the horizon.
"And that would be Titans North and South," said Robin. He looked back at Beast Boy. "When we get the chance, we'll talk this out further later today so that you can get a head start on getting everything ready for when Valentine's Day arrives the day after. But for now, it's best we get back outside, greet the new guests, and continue socializing with everyone."
Beast Boy nodded his head. "Understood."
"Good." Robin started walking towards the main doors to the common room. "Let's go."
The two teen boys exited the common room and made their way back to rejoin their friends and teammates outside the tower. But even as they focused on the current task at hand, both still had a portion of their minds on what they'd earlier been talking about. Robin was carefully going over every detail of the plan he'd now formed in his mind to help Beast Boy get things started and off to a smooth start between him and Raven. Beast Boy, meanwhile, was eagerly wondering just what Robin was now planning as well as looking forward to the potential good outcomes that were possibly in the future for him if said plan worked.
And just like that, another chapter complete! I really do hope you all enjoyed this chapter to! I had quite a lot of fun writing it! And I especially hope you leave plenty of feedback (and once again, I would especially appreciate it if I receive at least 1 review for this chapter; the chances of the next chapter being uploaded upon completion heavily depend on that). And on another note, it's time for me to get a few other things out of the way in regard to this chapter.
A: I especially hope you enjoyed all the interactions between the main branch (aka. Titans West) and the Titans East and Central branches. I really hope you find the interaction between Herald and Cyborg amusing at the very least, and I certainly did also enjoy writing the interactions between Beast Boy, Robin, and the other three Titan Boys who weren't hanging around Cyborg. However, I also quite enjoyed writing the interactions between the girl Titans as well. And to be honest, I actually believe it would be quite plausible for their dynamic to work the way I'm having it work. I mean think about it, once they're all on good terms, I totally believe that Raven and Starfire would actually be quite good friends with Jinx and Terra, and that Jinx and Terra would also be quite strong and reliable gal pals with each other as well.
B: I also hope you got some level of enjoyment in seeing the talks/debates/arguments about the romantic matters, and I apologize if I made it seem repetitive in that I had such talks happen twice in the same chapter. But this is how I felt it would work out best for this chapter (and this point in the story). And I'm sure you can quite agree with me (and the characters) on virtually all of those points. And let's face it, from a certain point of view, BBRae, Flinx, and the individual characters that make up those two pairings actually aren't really all that different. And on a similar note, I also hope you enjoyed the small references I made to Young Justice in the descriptions given about Kid Flash during the girls' conversation. And speaking of which, I might as well also mention that the thing about Raven enjoying MLP: Friendship is Magic as a guilty pleasure is a nod to how her TTG counterpart is a HUGE fangirl of that universe's MLP:FiM expy, Pretty, Pretty Pegasus.
C: You may have noticed all that stuff about the Justice League and their own romantic matters? I might as well mention right now, that for the sake of my Fanfiction continuation of Teen Titans, their animated canon (which I shall be referring to for the sake of this project as the DCTTAU (DC Teen Titans Animated Universe)) will have multiple elements in common with the DCAU, but with a few minor differences and a few major differences added in (here's to hoping you find enjoyment and nostalgia in those details). And on another note, at some point in the future, I also have a little project on the side in writing up a bullet pointformatted history of the DCTTAU that I may yet alter in format for the sake of posting on this website at a later date.
Well, with all that out of the way, once again, I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter and leave plenty of reviews/feedback! ^_^
Coming up Next: The very next day, and the final day before this year's Valentine's Day, Raven wakes up in the morning in time to find an unexpected gift at her bedroom door labeled to be from a 'Secret Admirer'. While quite a pleasant surprise for the half demon teen sorceress, it also leaves her the unusual mystery of just who is this 'secret admirer'. But at the same time this somewhat quite enjoyable mystery is going on amongst the Titans, a shadowy figure is present and at work within Jump City; and he soon manages to convince two other not quite as menacing, but still worth looking out for, citizens of Jump into getting involved in a sinister new attempt at the same plot that was derailed the previous year over the course of 'Geo-Force'. Sound exciting? I certainly hope so!
